When your mind is spinning, your heart is racing and the weight of the world decides to perch on your shoulders, one deep breath may be your saving grace.

But not all breaths are created equal. Behold, the "power breath":

In the video above, Jane McGonigal, senior researcher at the Institute for the Future, shows how simply breathing out for twice as long as you breathe in can help walk back anxiety.

The technique, according to McGonigal, "triggers a switch in your body's nervous system from sympathetic nervous system state to parasympathetic," the state more associated with rest.

Studies show that breathing exercises reduce panic, anxiety and stress, in addition to lowering blood pressure and heart rate. But McGonigal's "power breath" takes it one step further, since it mimics what we naturally do at rest, effectively tricking our bodies into thinking everything is just fine and dandy.

Whether you suffer from occasional anxiety, generalized anxiety, or its more cumbersome cousin, social anxiety, the following strategies can help get you on the other side of calm when practiced regul...

There's no question that many of us would like to improve the quality of our sleep each night. Tossing, turning, waking up frequently, struggling to f...
Read more: Third Metric, Sleep, Sleep Tricks...

I did something shameful Monday morning because I felt pressed for time, but if I had just taken 11 seconds to breathe I could've avoided the whole mishegas.
Read more: Third Metric, Time Crunch, Fi...

Most meditation practices encourage us to find our center by connecting with our breath, but one technique recently highlighted on HuffPost Live takes...
Read more: Third Metric, Breathing, Breathin...

You need some relaxation so you get a massage only to hear the massage therapist say, "You are forgetting to breathe. Just relax. Take some deep bre...
Read more: Self-Compassion, Breathing, Breathi...

As I reflect upon my mindfulness exercise over the past month, the most difficult part has been the attempt to acknowledge every thought as it flutters through my mind without passing judgment and rep...

Inspired by questions from my last article on how to actually teach mindfulness to kids, I'm putting out a new weekly post with FUN mindfulness exercises for the family. After all, who said mindfulnes...

Mindfulness is a deliberate awareness of the present moment, acknowledging and accepting bodily sensations, thoughts and feeling, without judgment or reaction. With practice, we learn detachment and t...

Most of our fears are stories from the past that are already experiences that are long gone, or projections to the future that has not happened yet and that is but a dream.
Read more: Breathing Exer...

Greater life balance lies within your reach. Focus on the big picture and keep in mind that small investments of time in the right places can transform your well-being and relationships.
Read more: ...